The changing geography of traditional medicine: Urban herbalism on the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Abstract

While medical geographers have generally ignored medical pluralism in developing countries, a small but significant geographical literature on traditional medicine has emerged. Progress for research by geographers on traditional medicine lies through a broader contextualisation of medical pluralism sensitive to the socio-economic and political context of health and disease. In this paper, a brief overview of medical pluralism in South Africa is presented. Issues surrounding the changing geography of traditional medicine are illustrated with reference to urban herbalism on the Witwatersrand.

Evaluation of Herbal Concoctions Sold at Ga Maja (Limpopo Province) in South Africa and In Vitro Pharmacological Evaluation of Plants Used to Manufacture the Concoctions

“…1 In South Africa, an estimated 65% to 80% of the citizens depend on medicinal plants as the primary health care system to treat various ailments. 2 The Limpopo province of South Africa is predominantly rural and has high levels of unemployment among its locals, subsequently poverty is prevalent. It is within these factors that the locals are heavily reliant on medicinal plants and use herbal medicines in combination with Western medicines or alone.…”

“…8 The increase of commercialization of herbal products is observed in South Africa as there is an increase in herbal shops, hawkers, wholesalers, and plant gatherers. 2 Traders from Ga Maja (24.1631 S, 29.5543 E) have set up market places where they sell herbal concoctions and the plants used to prepare them. The concoctions are sold in recycled 2-L and 500-mL plastic bottles.…”

“…8 The increase of commercialization of herbal products is observed in South Africa as there is an increase in herbal shops, hawkers, wholesalers, and plant gatherers. 2…”

Cultivation of Medicinal Plants as a Tool for Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation in the Amatola Region, South Africa

“…At a national level, it is estimated that annually 20,000 tonnes of material from over 700 plant species are traded, with a value of approximately R 270 million (US$ 60 million) (Mander 2004). The use and trade of plants for medicine is no longer confined to traditional healers, but has entered both the informal and formal entrepreneurial sectors of the South-African economy, resulting in an increase in the number of herbal gatherers and traders (Cunningham 1989;Dauskardt 1990;1991;Cocks et al 2004).…”